Another Post With the Help of Two Guests

I'm going to leave the Ordways for this post and go back to the Delph family...just for now.

It was again my lucky day when another shirt-tail Delph/Ordway relative contacted me and surprised me with some great photos, too.  (Thanks, Sarah!)  They were just what was needed to enhance this next story from guest writer, Jim Delph.  Jim had written in an earlier post about some of his experiences with my great grandpa, Lem Ordway, and Lem’s son, Philip Ordway.  Here is a short continuation of that story:

Jim writes…

My Time With Phil Ordway and the Silo

Around 1949 or 1950, my dad hired the Malinta Silo Company to build a silo on the farm.  Phil Ordway, my first cousin, worked for the silo company.  I was about 14 and Phil was about 50.  It took several days to build the silo, and I was around the project a lot.  All the workers put up with me, especially Phil.  All the equipment, including a dump truck, would stay on our farm, and the workers would ride to work together.  This was again a ride to Malinta.

Phil Ordway and one of the Malinta silos

At least once, I stayed at Uncle George’s home (George Delph) to hang out with George Jr.  I liked to talk to Phil, too.  He had a lot of funny stories, some life lessons, and he talked about politics freely.  Phil Ordway was a Democrat to the core.  Remember, my Grandma Delph did not like Lincoln, and Aunt Sue liked Roosevelt. The New Deal had put electricity on remote farms like theirs.  Therefore, I was a Democrat also.  What does a 14 year old know?  What I didn’t tell Phil was that one time I took the company dump truck to see my friend, Jack McPherson.  It was a weekend and I was home alone.  I was lucky that no police saw me or other parents reported me. 

I didn’t get to see Phil much after the silo was built, but another job of his brought us together years later.  As a high school senior in 1954, I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay for college.  An article in U.S. News & World Report said seniors would be drafted by the time they were 22 or 23.  The advice in the article was to get the military service out of the way and then go to school on the G.I. bill.  So when I turned 18, I told the draft board I was ready to be drafted and my brother Bob did the same.  We served in the Army from 1954-1956… In September of 1957, I started at BGSU, married and we had a son, all wonderful happenings, but the G.I. bill pay

of $120.00 a month fell short.  I picked up part time work where I could…

Some Wood County Democrats helped me get a job with the Ohio Highway Department.  My job was to deliver items from the Bowling Green headquarters to area county highway garages.  Phil Ordway worked at the Henry County Garage.  Michael Disalle was Ohio’s governor, so it paid to be a Democrat at that time.  I would get to see Phil most every day.  I even told him then about borrowing the Malinta Silo Company dump truck.  However, after that job ended, I didn’t see him much.  The last time was when his daughter, Phyllis, brought him to my sister’s home.

Memories of Great-Grandpa Lem Ordway

**I had this blog up for a couple of days and then BOOM! Blogger lost it, apparently.  So I'm reposting this from our guest writer, Jim Delph, nephew of Lem and Lizzie Delph Ordway.  Thanks, Jim!

Growing up on the farm:
Two major construction projects on the farm were important during my growing up years.  First was the installation of a bathroom.  Second was the building of a silo.  There were others, but these two were very important because both were done by the Malinta Silo Company.  That meant a daily shuttle to Grandma Delph's house was available.

To complete the bathroom, built around 1944 or 1945, a cistern was needed.  Dad decided to build one large enough to supply water for the fire department if the house or barn caught fire.  A 12 foot tall Malinta silo was installed in the ground.  I was 8 or 9 and the excitement of the workers using dynamite was wonderful.  I know Phil Ordway worked for the Malinta Company when the feed/ hay silo was built, but I am not sure he was part of the cistern project.
However, I could ride with the workers and stay at Grandmother Delph's house with her and Aunt Julie.  What fun it was to then visit Malinta.  A short walk down a lane would take me to Aunt Bess and Uncle Lem's home.  Bess reminded me of Aunt Sue, who lived next door to me, and I just adored her.  I would visit with George Jr.  He was a little older, but he still put up with me.  We always ended up at the Delph Brothers Store, owned by uncles George Delph Sr. and Pat Delph.

One day Uncle Lem Ordway invited me to go to the Volunteer Firemen's Convention that was going to be held in Napoleon.  All I had to do was get my mom's permission, which she gave.  However, Julie felt I was too young, and shouldn't see the drunks that might be there.  That only added to my excitement because I had never seen a "drunk."
When the day to go arrived, I walked to the Ordway's home and Uncle Lem had his Model A Ford out and ready to go.  We waited a few minutes for two adult men to show up.  I am not sure if they were Lem's sons or just friends.  However, Uncle Lem instructed them to sit in the back, and I was to sit in the front.  Uncle Bruce Robinson, Aunt Sue's husband, had a Model A Ford also , but I am sure it never was driven as fast as we were moving that day.  I loved every second of that trip.  Uncle Lem always had his pipe going.  This day he had his window down for fresh air, and it was cool in the car.  I was told to open a small door by my feet.  This put heat from the engine into the car, a feature that was not on Uncle Bruce's Ford.  We were moving at what I felt was a breakneck speed.  Without slowing down at all, Lem asked me to hold the wheel as he lit his pipe. I have never felt more important than I did at that moment.
We made it to Napoleon to watch the fire trucks, bands, floats and everything else that made the day so special.  The only disappointment was I did not see one "drunk."  It was a wonderful day that I remember as if it were yesterday.

I hope to tell more stories about the time our silo was built.  My first cousin, Phil Ordway, worked on that, and I grew to like him very much.

We look forward to more stories, Jim!